Fairy Fountain
by ZeldaStrife
Summary: After the unearthly and haunting depths of the Shadow Temple, Link needs a healing cleanse for not just his body but also his soul inorder to find the will to finish his mission as Hero of Time. Day 2 of Linktober 2019; vignette.


Link struggled along the beaten path through Kakariko's Graveyard. The Master Sword and his Hylian Shield felt so heavy in his hands as his boots slowly sank into the wet earth. The sky reflected his weary soul in its downpour upon the world. Finally, Link reached the end of the graves themselves, but he stopped before he entered Kakariko Village proper.

Navi meekly poked her tiny little head out from under his hat and looked at her friend, surprised at his sudden stop.

"Link? Are you okay?" she asked timidly. Her delicate face showed real concern for the Hero of Time.

Link dropped to his knees, his Sword and shield falling out of his grasp. He hung his head in weariness, and his eyes closed in silent thought.

He had fought countless monsters, demons, and the undead all throughout the night in the hopes of awakening the Sage of Shadow, who was the Sheikah guardian to Princess Zelda herself, Impa. Link had been successful in his quest, defeating Bongo Bongo and freeing Impa from the monster's hands, but this had been the most difficult Temple he had explored yet, not necessarily because of the Temple's layout and its navigation. No, this Temple housed much more sinister creatures. Creatures that had attacked Link's very soul.

The Hero glanced in Navi's direction, his eyes nearly devoid of their usual vigor. He was exhausted. The Shadow Temple housed and put on full display Hyrule's bloody history of greed and hatred, the dirty work that the Sheikah Tribe had once performed for the Royal Family. Link's courage had been put to the test in the Temple, and while he had emerged victorious, the Temple had taken a great toll on the Hero's spirit.

As a child, Link had merely wanted to help Princess Zelda in saving the world from a bad man who wanted to rule the world. It was like a fun game; they were both children who had no idea what they were really doing, and no adults had listened to them or stopped them. So they had gone on their own, and Link did as the princess asked, right up to the point of plucking the Master Sword out of the Pedestal. But then suddenly it wasn't a game anymore, and he was an adult. And seeing the repercussions of his actions played out before him in Ganondorf's takeover of Hyrule had been a rude awakening to a seven-year slumber.

So he set off on his quest to put things aright. And freed each of the Sages respectively. But every Temple, every sage was someone he knew from his childhood. His brain told him just a month ago he was ten years old. He was an adult now, and he had responsibilities, whether or not he liked it. He had a mess to fix.

But even in this future he was still being robbed of his childhood. Link had ventured back into his past in order to acquire the Lens of Truth from the bottom of Kakariko Village's well. He thought that that would have prepared him for what he would face in the Shadow Temple, but he was so very wrong. To learn that evil creatures had already inhabited the peaceful Kakariko Village literally right under his feet was unimaginable.

"Link, please," he heard Navi plead to him. "Are you okay? Let's get out of this rain."

Link inhaled through his nose deeply and opened his eyes again. This time, he took himself in, looking at his tunic, once a bright forest green, seemingly symbolizing his very life, now a dark olive that was stained, ripped, and hung more loosely than it had upon his exit from the Sacred Realm. He was the Hero of Time, and he would rise every time after he fell. Hyrule depended upon him. He needed to fix the mess that he had quite literally created.

Silently, he stood and sheathed his weapons and placed his shield on his back. From his innermost pocket, he retrieved the Ocarina of Time, the only relic left from his childhood that managed to bring him hope and joy. He played a haunting but welcome melody, the Minuet of Forest. In a flash of green magic light, Link and Navi vanished from Kakariko's somber cemetery.

Less than a half a minute later, the Hero and his fairy appeared in the Sacred Forest Meadow, outside the Forest Temple. Link inhaled deeply once again, smelling the clean air from his home. Well, it was the closest thing he had to a home now. He made his way off the dais and onto the soft, damp grass towards the hedge maze and to what he knew was the location of a fairy fountain. It one of the first ones he had found shortly after meeting Princess Zelda for the first time all those years ago. Because of that, and its proximity to Kokiri Forest, this fountain held a special place in Link's heart.

He made his way past the bushes, into a small clearing that hid a hole in the ground, a grotto. Fearlessly, Link fell into the dark hole but as he grew closer to the bottom, he slowed and landed on a small square platform.

Before him, a large, white stone structure stood, it's five supportive columns surrounding a shallow pool, its waters enchanted. There Link saw them, eight tiny red balls of light with wings, the same size as his companion Navi. Immediately they floated above the waters, inviting the Hero of Time to join them.

Link slowly walked to the fountain's edge, his dirty, old boots reverberating off the shimmery walls of the sacred place. When he made to step into the water, he didn't hesitate, the fairies themselves motioning him to wade into the pool. He walked to the center of the fountain, and as he did so, the red healing fairies surrounded Link. One circled his head while another tended to his tired legs and feet. Another circled his chest, tending to a wound unseen to anyone other than Link himself. He closed his eyes and stretched his arms, raising his hands to his waist as the fairies continued to surround him.

These fairies could sense that the Hero of Time needed not only his body healed but also his soul and spirit, so they gave Link their all. They must have circled his body for a good minute before stopping.

"Hero of Time," one addressed him, her voice tiny, but very proud of her and her comrades' work. "You have overcome so many trials, and your courage knows no bounds. You have sacrificed so much for Hyrule and the goddesses. We hope that your soul be renewed and you will continue your quest to serve Hyrule and the goddesses. Please…"

And with those last words, the fairies began to descend toward the water, slowly. Just before each of them were to break the surface, their tiny lights and bodies disappeared. Their mission to aid the Chosen Hero had been fulfilled.

Link stood for another moment in the water, reflecting on the fairy's words to him. Never had a healing fairy spoken to him before, but this one had. She sounded like she had taken such great happiness in healing him. These fairies lived but to serve the Goddess's Chosen Hero and they relished that fact. Silently, Link said a prayer of thanks to this group of fairies for their service to him.

He turned then, and faced Navi, who was still floating by the entrance to the grotto. She blinked at the change she saw in her friend. His clothes looked new, his boots were clean, and his face was no longer pallid. His eyes were a sapphire blue once again, and full of valor, eager to begin the last leg of this mission to release Hyrule from Ganondorf's iron fist.

"Link, you… You look…" but words failed the fairy for the first time in her life. A different person had emerged from this Fairy Fountain and she couldn't help but stare.

As he caught up with Navi, Link adopted a smirk on his face as he met her gaze. He simply brought the Ocarina of Time to his lips once more and played the Serenade of Water, the closest teleportation site to Gerudo territory, their next destination.

His spirit was renewed and his courage rekindled. Link was ready to end Ganondorf's reign, and rise triumphant as the Hero of Time.


End file.
